Sebille was nervous... uneasy... And more than anything; she felt silly about the whole incident.

She was going over what she should say in her head.

She hadn't seen Null in two weeks, and the last time she did they weren't exactly exchanging pleasantries.

They had told her he was outside, so she was looking for him. Past events still bothering her.

*****

Roughly two weeks ago:

Sebille was fumed. Saying and doing such things to Loupe. He was her friend and nothing was going to change that. Null didn't even need to say anything, Loupe was already afraid of him.

He had no right!

"Bend forward!"

She came out rude and demanding -and this time she meant to.

" ...?"

>"I told you to bend forward, did you not hear me?"

He was too tall and she wanted him to lower himself.

Null did so. She seemed irritated enough already, so perhaps he saw it fit to do as she said.

"Don't EVER do that again!"

She walked away...

...leaving Null with a stinging area on his cheek.

*****

Just like that, she had walked out, and not returned since. She had gone to a cottage owned by an old, old friend of hers and stayed there.

Ah, there he was.

Everything she had thought she would say just... eluded her.

He looked calm... that was good. Though... It wasn't like she could actually see his expression from his back. So, she hoped he looked calm, more than actually knew it.

" ..."

She stood there behind him, unsure of what to say. She knew he had noticed her presence but apparently had chosen to not react.

Not that she blamed him for it.

" ..."

"I... I'm sorry about what happened last time... I can get a little hot-headed sometimes."

She felt even more embarassed now and felt that she needed to do something with her hands while explaining herself. She couldn't look at him either.

"...I stepped over the line. It wasn't that big of a deal and I should have handled it better."

" ..."
"I really shouldn't have hit you."

She watched as he stood up. Was he going to leave and ignore her. Or tell her that she had indeed gone over the top with her reaction? Or perhaps... surprise her again?

"That's fine."
"Eh? Really?"

"Yes..."
"...You shouldn't let me off the hook so easily. I might do it again."

She was happy that he did, though.

"...Would you now?"
"I realize that it might not really have hurt you but... there's a symbolic meaning to it, you know... or something like that."

" ..."
"I feel dumb that I left like that... I had work afterwards and then I went to a friend's place so..."

She was babbling again.

"No grudges ,then?"
" ..."
"You've never been hit before, have you?"

"No..."

So, that was like a... refreshing experience for him, or something? And she had been so worried about it. How dumb.

"Okay..." She smiled a little.